by Bob Kravitz, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Kravitz, USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Hoosiers needed to fill just one gaping hole on their resume, needed at least one signature victory on the road over a highly ranked team. They needed to show the NCAA tournament selection committee, and the country, that they were more than a product of home cooking, that they could leave Assembly Hall and knock off somebody with a pedigree.

Mission accomplished.

No. 1 (for now) Indiana 81, No. 10 (for now) Ohio State 68.

A landmark victory? Consider these two incredible pieces of information:

This was Indiana's first road victory over a top-10 ranked Big Ten team since 1993.

This was Indiana's first road victory over any top-10 ranked team since 2000.

"It's a big deal,'' Indiana coach Tom Crean said. "It's a big deal.''

This was the last hurdle. And now they know, know deep in their hearts, they can go to ranked opponents' houses, places like Minnesota, Michigan State and Michigan, and win monster, must-win games like this one.

Even more, they showed just how quickly they can learn from their mistakes. Victor Oladipo, a burgeoning Player of the Year candidate, lost count of how many times he and his teammates watched tape of the last few ugly minutes of the Illinois game.

"A couple,'' he said with a smile. "A couple. A couple.''

A bunch.

The tape doesn't lie.

"We're too old for that (to happen), even Yogi (Ferrell),'' Oladipo continued. "We've just got to keep growing and make sure it never happens again.''

They learned two things every observer and fan noticed while watching the Hoosiers fold like origami Thursday in Champaign.

First, they learned to handle time-and-score situations, learned how to walk the fine line between using the clock while continuing to maintain movement and aggressiveness. On one perfect possession late in Sunday's game, they moved the ball, only to have Cody Zeller hit a 17-foot jumper with roughly 5 seconds remaining on the shot clock.

"The big key is playing to win instead of playing for time to run out,'' Zeller said. "We grew up a lot from that (Illinois) game.''

Second, they learned they are the best team in the country when they feed Zeller like he's a starving man at a Vegas buffet. (And, to a lesser extent, Christian Watford.) When the guards get Zeller the ball, and when Zeller puts himself in position to demand the ball, the Hoosiers are an inside-out colossus that can drop 81 points on a terrific defensive team in its own barn.

So why don't the Hoosiers get it into Zeller more often? Why doesn't this happen every game? Inquiring minds want to know.

"Sometimes it's easier said than done,'' Zeller said with a shrug.

Said Oladipo: "Sometimes it's kind of hard because they push Cody off of where he wants to be. Or we can't get it in because our guy keeps backing off, and then we're kind of second guessing ourselves. Today, we had the mindset, we're going to get it inside to him no matter what.''

That was, quite simply, the best game Zeller (24 points, eight rebounds) has ever played in an Indiana uniform. He has had some good ones, put up gaudier numbers in other games, but given the circumstances, given the competition, that was the best he has ever looked. He showed why he has NBA scouts salivating. He presented all facets of his skill set: the low post game, running the floor, rebounding, driving the ball and even hitting that mid-range jump shot -- which he needs to do more often.

"We need him to be assertive like that every game,'' Oladipo said. "You guys know that.''

Yes, us guys know that.

If the Hoosiers want to win a national championship this season, Zeller has to play like the preseason Player of the Year every single night.

Understand, he has been good, very good, but any improvements he has made from his freshman year to his sophomore year have been very subtle. Maybe it's his team-first upbringing, the fact he has always been about winning first and statistics second (or eighth), but for the Hoosiers to be great -- and they were great, a true No. 1 team Sunday afternoon -- Zeller has to develop something of a selfish streak.

As good as he is, Crean still feels he has to defend Zeller from criticism.

"What I've learned this year, when we had Dwyane (Wade at Marquette), he wasn't getting (Sports Illustrated) covers until the end of the year,'' Crean said. "Cody got one at the start of the year. To have a player like Zeller, the expectation level is going to be different with the media and the public, and the thing you can't ever do is worry what an outsider's expectations might be. The biggest thing for him is improvement. That young guy -- and I say 'young' in capital letters -- has had a lot thrust on him expectation-wise, and yet, he's always completely focused on getting better.''

Everything they failed to do in the Illinois game, they did in Columbus on Sunday.

Quick learners, these guys.

"That was one of the best games we've played all year,'' Oladipo said. "If we keep growing, there's no reason we have to lose another game the rest of the season.''

They may not be No. 1 when the rankings come out Monday, but on a Sunday with the Big Ten title very much on the line, they played like the very best team in America.